Gabriel Enenche —
Housing development expert, Barr. Festus Adebayo has appealed to all the Presidential aspirants for next year’s general elections to show more commitment to the provision of affordable housing which he said is critical to the country’s economy and the welfare of Nigerians.
Speaking at the 2022 Affordable Housing Awards held last Thursday, Adebayo said one of the objectives of the event was to make it a pathway where politicians are to converge and map out plans for the growth of the housing industry.
“We consider this event an avenue to engage politicians, said Adebayo, the organizer of the event.
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“We have seen all of them speak severally but, none of them has spoken seriously affordable housing. We have gone through the manifesto of some of them, some of them used one paragraph, some used two. But, this topic is too critical and any body who wants to be the president of this country must state clearly as to how they intend to house Nigerians.
This is one of the major problems that has affected the country. Affordable housing is key and by the way, housing effect to the economy is very huge. It creates jobs.
“What we are saying is, presidential aspirants, share your strategies with us. You said you want to build 500,000 houses, every year, tell us how you intend to achieve this. Tell us the agency you are going to use? who are the people that are going to build them?
“What we are engaging this people for is the mistake we made in 2015 when somebody told us I am going to build one million houses every year and eight years later, they have not been able to give us 10,000 houses.”
He added that the country keeps making the mistake of producing houses for the same set of persons who can afford them but, has done nothing in the area of affordable housing.
Ibrahim Abdulkarim, Director General, Obi-Datti independent campaign council, representing Labour Party’s candidate for the elections, Peter Obi, said the party plan to ensure that every Nigerian has a shelter in order to reduce social vices in the society.
He also stated that could be one of the best legacies any government can leave with the masses.
“Mr Obi has already said it clearly that housing and infrastructure are best legacies he will give because, for example, there is no way you can build a nation where there is no shelter, Abdulkarim said.
“The importance of shelter is not only for protection, it is also for privacy. We are looking at it from a different angle, we looking how shelter is going to reduce rape, reduce crime,
“The kind of house a political office holders lives in keeps changing and improving over the years but that of the people who voted them into office remain the same or even gets worse. Some can’t even afford a decent roof over theirs heads, he added.
